Parallels and Tangents between the Black Panthers Party and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Abstract

The Black Lives Matter is a social movement that emerged through social platforms using a Hashtag which gained attention instantly and forayed into intellectual circles internationally in 2013. It created a ripple of solidarity and resistance against the anarchy of lawlessness which is exhibited repeatedly by the police against the blacks. The movement has maintained its stance and the intensity of protest with similar zeal since its inception till the present day. This paper endeavours to carry out a comparative analysis of the Black Lives Matter Movement with the Black Panther Party of the 1960s in America. While both movements were fighting for the same cause, there was the difference of the radical approach of ‘Self Defence through Guns’ supported by the Black Panthers and the peaceful protests on the streets which defined the Black Lives Matter movement. The Black Panther Party gained momentum among the masses and initiated several programs for the betterment of African Americans in America, yet the movement dissolved within two decades due to internal strife. There are prominent parallels and intersections between the two movements and studying both through the lens of objective impartiality can lead to significant insights for the revolutionaries of the present and the future.